BOSTON — Most shoppers, even label lovers, agree that clothing doesn't give you a great return on your investment, only your sense of style.

To stay stylish in this rugged economy, people are turning more to secondhand clothing.

Sam Hollister is a realtor by trade, but her passion is finding great shopping deals. She found a consignment shop in her neighborhood a few years ago and boasts that 60 percent of her clothing is used. She says she turns over her collection by bartering.

Hollister said, "If I sell a 300-dollar dress I am probably only getting less than 100 dollars for it, but I use that credit to buy another dress so it is kind of like operating at zero, which is great."

The Closet on Newbury Street has been in business for 34 years. Kevin Kish started the business in his living room and explains how the process works today.

Kish said, "It is good to have an appointment. Once someone does that, we ask them to bring in their 15 best pieces. We price it for them and mail checks every month."

The question everyone wants to know is how much can they make.

Kish said, "The contract says we set the price, but we do listen to our consigners. We don't want them walking away or being upset with the clothing that we sell."

Generally, an article of clothing sells for half or a third of the original price. If the item doesn't sell in 30 days the price drops by 25 percent and 50 percent after 60 days.

Each consignment shop offers different deals. The Closet gives you half the sale price, while Second Time Around writes a check to the consigner for 40 percent of the profit.

Another option for the cost conscious shopper is to rent a dress for a Friday night party. A company out of Harvard Business School called Rent the Runway came up with the idea.

Rent the Runway allows women to rent designer dresses and accessories starting at $40 for dresses and $10 for accessories. Letitia Tandean is a BU Student and an RTR Rep.

Tandean said, "I know a lot of college students and I know we can't get a new dress every week. It is a way to expand your wardrobe without really expanding it."

Tandean doesn't get paid in dollars but credit toward a free rental.

Tandean said, "If we get girls to sign up we get dress credits and if we get a girl to rent a dress we get more credits."

RTR lets you rent the dresses for 4 or 8 days. You don't have to dryclean it once you are done — just pop it in a mailbox.

If you don't want to share the profit with a consignment shop, you can also try your luck with eBay. However, it is very important to post photos that really show off the clothing and provide a quality description. The better the photos you post, the greater the profit. You should share your eBay links on Facebook and Twitter to publicize what you are selling.

I hadn't ever, that is, until last night, when Marilynn and Sheila Brass were challenged to a Pineapple Upside Down Cake bake-off on Flay’s show. The Brass sisters, award-winning authors of Heirloom Baking and Heirloom Cooking, are Cambridge residents who have made a name for themselves as interpreters and perfecters of historical recipes. (See my article on them from a few years ago in the food section of The Boston Globe.) Sheila Brass is a long-time employee at WGBH, and Marilynn Brass is a two-time alumna of Northeastern University, in whose gorgeous new exhibition kitchen the episode was taped.

Let’s cut to the chase: the judges named the Brass sisters’ cake the winner!

That’s the bottom line, I suppose, but through the course of the episode I was more interested in what makes Throwdown with Bobby Flay good television.

Partly it’s the drama of the competition of course, which is inevitable given the format of the show. It pits “the pro,” Flay, against amateur but very well-regarded cooks and bakers across the country; the playing field is evened somewhat by the specific dish of the competition, which is a specialty of the amateurs while Flay and his co-cooks start their rendition from scratch.

What also makes Throwdown with Bobbly Flay good television is the personality, surprise, and reaction of the cooks who are challenged. Some react by trash-talking with Flay but the Brass sisters, true to their playful yet sincere and well-mannered form, were FUNNY and gracious from start to finish.

That not only makes for good television, it makes for good people, which made it impossible not to root for the Brass sisters’ Pineapple Upside Down Cake. When the judges’ decision was announced, naming the Brass cake the winner, the audience at the Northeastern exhibition kitchen cheered wildly.

So did I.

Cathy Huyghe is a contributor to WGBH Daily Dish blog. Read new WGBH Daily Dish posts every weekday, where you can explore recipes and tips for good food and wine.